The Duke and Duchess' Divorce Circumstances

Everyone expected it.

She was hoping no one bought the Ruivan mine that Ramiel offered.

Who else but the imperial family would pay such a large amount of money at once, not just a penny or two, but hundreds of billions of pave?

Since it was a mine that produced magic stones, she knew there were a lot of people interested in it even though the scale wasn’t very large, but the price was so high that she tried to make a deal with it by imposing the condition of paying in installments over several years. So she was at ease, but then the ‘Imperial’, the king of business partners, appeared.

If a lump sum payment was difficult, it was possible to pay in two installments, and a contract was eventually concluded under the condition of paying 200 robes in advance and paying 120 robes a year later.

At this point, she became curious about Ruivan’s wealth. Even if it was a profitable mine, among those who had it, a mid-level mine receives as much as 320 robes. So, how great of a reserve did the large one boast?

If Ruivan puts his mind to it, he may be able to stand in conflict with the imperial family. Therefore, the imperial family would have been more fortunate than anyone else that Ramiel had chosen Leanello.

Although Leanello had a lot of money, they lacked political or social influence, so it was a clear sign that he would not increase his power any further. In the meantime, it would be even more reassuring for the imperial family to sell one of their poor mines.

Ray was filled with arrogance as he looked at Marin’s web displayed in the middle of Ruivan’s mansion, adorned with magic stones equipped with security devices made and sold by high-ranking magicians of the imperial family.

“But it’s worth it. It’s really pretty.”

Since it was an expensive jewel necklace, she thought it would have been decorated with all kinds of heavy and large jewels, but that wasn’t the case.

The necklace, which spread elegantly from the neck down to the collarbone and over the chest, was made up of several thin strings connected like a spider’s web.

A lot of blue diamonds were used at the bottom so that the color became blue as it went down from the neck, making the overall look reminiscent of ocean waves. It was a work as the name suggests, Marin’s Web.

All of the seams were made with precious stones, so they sparkled as if they were emitting light even without lighting. If you look closely, you can see colored diamonds, rubies, and other gems embedded among the hundreds or thousands of diamonds. Even to a layperson, it was not an ordinary piece of jewelry, but a work of art.

Marji, the craftsman who created Marin’s web, said he did not initially intend to sell it. Therefore, she was able to spend a long time and carefully create each piece with only the best jewelry, and the eye-popping price was able to be calculated like this.

Marin’s necklace, a work of art that was put on display to showcase the jewelry store’s technology and sensibility, found its owner for the first time.

“Pooh, no. Don’t come anywhere near here. If this thing breaks, I can’t fix it even if I sell you.”

The servants didn’t show their master’s crazy behavior, but they were whispering behind the scenes that a black dog had entered the house and something sinister was about to begin.

“The magic stone was ground and coated on the outside to increase strength, so it is said that even if a horse walks on it, there will not be a single scratch. So it’s clear that it will be okay if the shelf falls over.”

Wilpoff said with a grin on his face.

After purchasing Marin’s Web, the expressions on the faces of most family members darkened, most notably the butler and administrator. The expression was as calm as usual, but if you looked closely, you could see a dark energy creeping out.

‘It’s only natural that a person who will leave in one year has won 180 billion robes.’

Ray thought that even she would have been sick.

‘But what should I do? It is expected that we will become even more extravagant in the future.’

Although she would receive the down payment a year later, if she took the 180 billion robes necklace and all the accessories and dresses she would buy in the future, her future wealth would be even bigger.

Contrary to Ray’s happy blueprint, Wilpoff was deeply uneasy somewhere in his heart.

‘No matter how much the owner thinks about it, it’s strange.’

Ramiel had a particularly soft spot for Ray. I don’t know if he knew this or not, but it felt like a bad omen for Wilpoff.

Promising himself to be more alert in the future, he personally inspected the clothes Ray would wear during the Crown Prince’s audience.

* * *

Three days before the imperial family entered.

Since morning, servants have been busy going to and from the dressing room.

The imperial outing was the first official event for Duke and Duchess Ruivan. Since Ramiel’s title awarding ceremony was taking place and it was Madame Ruivan’s first large-scale event, the employees prepared more thoroughly.

One of the ways was to repair the dresses handed down from generation to generation at Ruivan.

“Not jewelry, but a dress?”

Dresses were a trend that changed each quarter. It was difficult for merchants and designers to predict what design and color of dress would be popular next year. This was because toward the end of each quarter, signs of the next quarter’s trend were revealed.

In addition, no matter how well you take care of it, since it is made of cloth, it will definitely spoil if stored for a long time.

‘Just because I wear it doesn’t mean Wilpoff will give me something completely dry, does it?’

After Marin’s Web, Wilpoff’s expression became even colder.

There was no change in her expression or tone of voice, but she paid more attention to Ray’s life, and there she could feel the coldness behind Wilpoff.

They must be worried that an accident worth 180 billion won will occur somewhere again. It was so-called surveillance disguised as meticulous attention.

“Ma’am, don’t worry. We put a preservation spell on the dress, so it’s in great condition.”

Anna answered, looking at Ray’s concern.

The third-generation Ruivan couple, who rarely appear in the history of aristocratic society, are ‘sincerely in love’. The third-generation head of Ruivan, who made the family dress, was a romanticist.

He put great effort into making the best dress for his wife. The dress, which took several years to complete, was first unveiled at Ruivan’s 10th wedding anniversary, and his wife later passed it on to her beloved daughter.

 

Her daughter wore the dress to her own wedding, and later she retouched the dress and sent it back to Ruivan for her parents’ 20th wedding anniversary, with whom she is still good. That was the beginning and has since become the official clothing worn by Ruivan’s hostess.

The ability to wear a dress for a long time was largely due to the preservation magic, but it was also because each owner had the opportunity to change the details slightly to keep up with trends to some extent.

“But say so…”

Ray, who was about to retort by saying, “No matter what,” closed his mouth. Instead, there was exclamation.

The snow-white tube top dress had a rich draping decoration at the back of the waist.

“Oh my god, it’s a finished product…”

The dresses of nobles were different from those worn on a daily basis and those worn for events like today.

Casual clothes were usually finished products, so all you had to do was buy a dress that fit your size and wear it, or make some modifications to fit your body.

However, the formal dress worn for events like today was not a finished product, but a piece of clothing divided into sections such as sleeves, front and back panels of the upper body, front and back hem, and decorative fabric.

A noblewoman’s luxurious dress was made by sewing these pieces together one by one and wearing them as one piece. Of course, it was a garment that could not be worn by oneself, and had to be completed by at least two servants who were in charge of it for over two to three hours.

Not only this, but before putting on the dress, you had to wear underpants, a chemise, and a petticoat, and sometimes even a crinoline. Therefore, the effort of the person wearing it and the person putting it on was not that great.

The fancy dress is very expensive. It was a phenomenon that appeared as it changed frequently according to trends. This was because only the necessary parts had to be changed little by little to suit the trend.

However, if you change a part, the whole thing changes accordingly. The patchwork dress was a piece of wool, the only difference being whether it was an installment plan or a lump sum payment. In the end, formal dresses were also one of the luxuries of wealthy nobles.

But in this culture, finished dresses are passed down from generation to generation.

The Ruivan family’s elegant dress was a timeless and beautiful piece, as if it had been made not long ago.

“I’m wearing this?”

“Yes. This is something that the hostess Ruivan has worn for generations. Ma’am, you should wear it too.”

Ray felt guilty when he saw the high-class family dress that far exceeded his expectations. Her conscience prickled at the thought of not only wearing a necklace worth 180 billion robes but also wearing a dress with such a long history.

‘Even if I could leave the dress behind because it belongs to the family, how uncomfortable would the real Lady Ruivan be if she found out later that I was wearing this when she passed by?’

“I’d like to wear something else.”

“Yes?”

“It’s so cool that I want to wear it sparingly.”

The plan was that she would put off wearing it to the wedding, but then insist that she wanted a new dress for the ceremony.

“Ma’am, this dress was brought to you by the owner himself.”

“Yes, that’s right. So don’t skimp and wear it. The master is so concerned that it is Madame’s first event.”

“Rael gave it to you?”

“Yes. The master told me to give this dress to his wife.”

The two maids expressed their love for their master’s wife, saying that they could not have imagined that this dress would come out already.

‘Why are you doing this to me?’

At this point, she was curious about Ramiel’s intentions. What on earth was he thinking? This was too much treatment for a wife working on a one-year contract.

“If there’s anything you want, you can tell the designer.”

Every time the dress changed hands, a famous designer was called to the mansion and the old or out-of-style parts were modified little by little in the direction the owner wanted.

In the process, it would have been better to buy a new one, but the result was so much better than expected that I quickly forgot about the process and the cost.

“Try the dress on first and then decide.”

At the same time, Anna came closer to help Ray undress.

“But Anna. What is that in your hand?”

“It’s a corset.”

“You want me to wear that?”

“Yes. In order to further promote the status of the lady to those around her, she wears this and subdues…”

“Wait, wait. Isn’t that illegal?”

Corsets existed until just 15 years ago.

Women tightened their corsets to achieve a 20-inch waist. The trend that started to show off the fullness of the breasts and hips to the extreme has quickly established a fragile, thin waist as a symbol of beauty.

The leader of this bizarre trend was the imperial family. After Barbana, the favorite concubine of the previous emperor, started wearing corsets, they became a trend among the imperial family and nobles.

Corsets, which had been tightening women for decades, came to an end when the current emperor banned them by law. It was a law that came about because the mistress, who monopolized the emperor’s love, tightened her corset to the limit and died from various complications and suffocation.

Clothing that started becoming popular as a government and ended as a government. It was an incredibly ironic ending.

“This level is not illegal. Everyone is wearing it.”

However, due to strong opposition from some quarters, the corset itself could not be completely eliminated, and wearing was allowed, but only if it was 1 inch or less tight than the person’s waist. An underwear called a corset, which had nothing to do with Ray, was revealed in front of a large stage.

“No. I don’t want to wear it. I’m already nervous because it’s such a big stage, but what if my clothes are uncomfortable?”

When the madam, who was expected to answer that she understood, refused, the two people’s faces showed disapproval.

“The bigger the stage, the better you have to look!”

“Why is it cool to have a small waist? You’d rather tell me to grow my shoulders!”

The two continued to persuade, but Ray remained steadfast.

“Just try it on. I won’t tighten it too much.”

After a while, a compromise was reached. Ray also nodded her head tiredly.

“Ugh. I guess Mr. Wilpoff knew how to relax like this.”

“…Was the corset the butler’s work?”

For some reason, she felt like the kids, who would have backed off if they had said they didn’t like it this much, were persistently clinging to it. It seemed that Wilpoff wanted to extract 180 billion in some way or form.

‘It’s the karma my snout accumulated.’

Remembering her sins, Ray quietly slipped into her corset. If Yuju found out, she would say it was a big deal and it would be a milestone.

Ray also trembled and submitted himself to the most vicious torture device he had ever worn for the first time in his life.

 

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